"the galaxy as seen in the night sky," late 14c., loan-translation of Latin via lactea; see galaxy. Formerly in Middle English also Milken-Way and Milky Cercle. The ancients speculated on what it was; some guessed it was a vast assemblage of stars (Democrates, Pythagoras, even Ovid); the question was settled when Galileo, using his telescope, reported that the whole of it was resolvable into stars. Old native names for it include Jacob's Ladder, the Way to St. James's, and Watling Street (late 14c.).
originally the name of the river, from Dakota (Siouan) mnisota, literally "cloudy water, milky water," from mni "river, stream" + sota "slightly clouded." As the name of a U.S. territory from 1849 (admitted as a state 1858). Related: Minnesotan (by 1867).
surname, German, literally "tailor" (equivalent to English Snyder), from schneiden "to cut" (see schnitzel). As a verb meaning "to defeat thoroughly," it appears to be from the game of skat, 1885, where it describes an emphatic way of winning (another way is known as a Schwartz, another German surname). It is attested in German as a skat term by 1860.
In all simple bids, a player proposes to win the game, that is, make at least sixty-one points. With a strong hand he may bid to Schneider his opponents ; that is to prevent them from making thirty points. ["Trumps," "The American Hoyle," New York: 1885]
discovered 1798 at Rosetta, Egypt; now in British Museum. Dating to 2c. B.C.E., its trilingual inscription helped Jean-François Champollion decipher Egyptian demotic and hieroglyphics in 1822, which opened the way to the study of all early Egyptian records. Hence, figurative use of the term to mean "something which provides the key to previously unattainable understanding" (1902). The place name is a Europeanization of Rashid, a name given because it was founded c.800 C.E. by Caliph Harun ar-Rashid.
European nation along the North Sea west of Germany, from Dutch Nederland, literally "lower land" (see nether); said to have been used especially by the Austrians (who ruled much of the southern part of the Low Countries from 1713 to 1795), by way of contrast to the mountains they knew, but the name is older than this. The Netherlands formerly included Flanders and thus were equivalent geographically and etymologically to the Low Countries. Related: Netherlander; Netherlandish (both c. 1600). In German terms, Netherlander is contrasted with Dutch Overlander, German Oberländer.
